HDMS Lougen (1805)

HDMS ''Lougen'' was a Danish naval brig launched in 1805. She saw service in the Danish navy and participated in two notable actions against the British Royal Navy during the Gunboat War. In 1814, as a result of the Treaty of Kiel, the Danes transferred her to the Norwegian navy. The Norwegians sold her to German merchants in the Scheld in 1825. She was finally shipwrecked near Bremerhaven in 1881.

Danish Navy

''Lougen'' vs. ''Childers''

On 14 March 1808 ''Lougen'' found the British brig engaged in escort duty in Norwegian waters. ''Lougen'' tried over the course of several hours to bring about an engagement, and eventually succeeded, but ''Childers'' escaped much damaged though her crew did suffer casualties.

''Lougen'' vs. ''Seagull''

On Sunday, 19 June 1808, off the Naze of Norway in the vicinity of the port of Kristiansand, encountered and chased ''Lougen''. ''Lougen'', under the command of First Lieutenant Peter Frederik Wulff,Dansk Militærhistorie
/ref> tried to maintain a distance from ''Seagull'' to take advantage of the range of her 18-pounders relative to the range of ''Seagull''s 24-pounder carronades. The chase brought both vessels close in shore where the fresh breeze was lessening to a near calm. ''Seagull'' tried to get between ''Lougen'' and the shore to prevent her from reaching Kristiansand.

Unfortunately for ''Seagull'', about 20 minutes into the engagement six Danish gunboats arrived from behind some rocks, and in two divisions of three each, took up positions on ''Seagull''s quarter, where they fired on her with their 24-pounder guns while ''Lougen'' fired on her larboard bow. Within half an hour the Danish fire had badly damaged ''Seagull''s rigging and dismounted five of her guns. Eventually ''Seagull''s captain, Commander Robert B. Cathcart, who was himself severely wounded, struck, having lost eight men killed and 20 wounded. ''Lougen'' had only one man killed and a dozen men slightly wounded.

Shortly after ''Seagull'' had surrendered, and after her crew and wounded had been taken off, she sank. A number of the prize crew from the ''Lougen'' drowned as ''Seagull'' sank. The Danes later recovered ''Seagull'' and took her into their naval service.

In Northern Waters

Jochum Nicolay Müller, a native of Trondheim, took command of ''Lougen'' in 1809. During the summer of 1809, three British vessels – (18; Commander Thomas Young), (16), and (14) – operated in the far northern waters of Norway, briefly occupying, after one failed attempt, the small town and sheltered harbour of Hammerfest near North Cape.

In the spring of 1810 the two Danish-Norwegian brigs ''Lougen'' and (under the newly promoted Captain Müller and Senior Lieutenant Thomas Lütken, respectively) left Fredericksværn and reached Hammerfest on 28 June. Three gun-schooners - ''Nornen'', ''Valkyren'', and ''Axel Thorsen'' - each with two 24-pounder guns, one fore and one aft – had joined them en route. This squadron sailed to find the British squadron in the waters of North Cape, for which, however, there were few and poor charts, and no pilotage instructions. The two remaining British ships, ''Nightingale'' and ''Gallant'', had been warned of the Danes' approach and had left, apparently having sailed to Greenland to escort a convoy of British whalers. In the absence of the enemy, coastal trade blossomed with Russia and the Danish vessels escorted a final convoy of the year into Trondheim, including 11 prize merchant ships.Topsøe-Jensen Vol II pp. 227-229In 1811 protection of the north fell to the smaller ships; first the Dane-Norwegian navy and then the Norwegian navy maintained a naval presence in the area until 1816, but the primary mission became one of improving charts and pilot instructions for these waters.

On 31 July 1811, ''Lougen'', in company with the brigs and ''Kiel'', encountered and cruising together in Long Sound, Norway. The Danes had 54 guns and 480 men, against the British 22 guns and 107 men.The ''Naval Chronicle'' gives the Danish strength as 60 guns (all long 18-pounders), and 550 men. Outnumbered and outgunned, the British vessels took flight.''Naval Chronicle'' Vol. 26 (Jul-Dec 1811), pp. 284-286.

The next day ''Brev Drageren'' unsuccessfully re-engaged first one and then two of the brigs. In the inconclusive engagement each British vessel sustained one man killed, and ''Brev Drageren'' also had three wounded. In the second day's fight, ''Algerine'' sent a boat and sweeps to ''Brev Drageren'', which helped her escape the Danes, though not until after her crew had rowed for 30 hours.James (1837), Vol. 5, p. 346. ''Lolland'' captured two mercantile galleases that ''Brev Drageren'' had been escorting.

Fate

After the Treaty of Kiel and Norway's separation from Denmark, ''Lougen'' was transferred to the Norwegian navy in 1814. In 1825 the Norwegians sold her into the merchant navy and she moved to the Scheldt. She was shipwrecked in 1881 at Bremerhaven.

Notes, citations, and references

Notes

Citations

References
*
Danish Military History website
(if necessary, type Lougen in the search box, then click read more.)
;Danish
* The Danish Naval Museum is buildin
a new website
at which many details, drawings and models may be available. The English language version of this website is still under construction (March 2016)
*T. A. Topsøe-Jensen og Emil Marquard (1935) "Officerer i den dansk-norske Søetat 1660-1814 og den danske Søetat 1814-1932".
*
Images and Models

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lougen (1805)
Brigs of the Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy
Ships built in Copenhagen
1805 ships
Brigs
1814 in Norway
Ships of the Royal Norwegian Navy
Ships designed by Ernst Wilhelm Stibolt